The amazing restoration of the second 300 SL ever built

When Mercedes-Benz rolled out its new-for-2013 SL at the North American International Auto Show on Monday, it would’ve been really cool to show off the very first SL ever produced, in order to illustrate the heritage of the iconic sports car. (Especially because the SL will be celebrating its 60th birthday this year.) Unfortunately, M-B scrapped the first SL many years ago. But the company could drag out and dust off the next best thing: 1952 300 SL Nummerzwei.

Chassis number 194 010 00002/52, the second 300 SL ever built, has stayed with Mercedes-Benz ever since the car was hand assembled in 1951-1952. The car, which holds the distinction of being the oldest SL in existence, recently underwent an extensive restoration at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Fellbach, Germany.

The company wanted the car to look as close to new as it could, without totally removing the 60-year-old patina. Interestingly, back in the day, the car was used as a training and backup vehicle for the race team, and was never involved in an accident, so the chassis and body panels were as straight as original.

The W 194 300 SL number two is one of the two vehicles built by hand in Rudolf Uhlenhaut’s Stuttgart-Untertürkheim racing workshop. The ensuing eight 300s were used mainly for racing in 1952 and were manufactured in the Sindelfingen factory, using pressed parts for the chassis – though they could hardly be called “mass produced.”

Number two looks almost totally hand fabricated: The chassis, the fuel tank, the exhaust, the seat frames, even the windshield washer fluid reservoir are the work of post-war German craftsmen.

Weight-saving tricks were used everywhere on these machines, which tipped the scales at a feathery 2,336 pounds. The body is made of very thin aluminum-magnesium sheetmetal; parts of the front suspension have been drilled to make them lighter; the bellhousing, rear axle center section and steering box are cast out of magnesium; even the handbrake lever was drilled to shave a few ounces.

The restoration of the original bodywork was particularly complex and took about five months to complete, from May to September of last year. Mercedes-Benz’s experts strove to make the delicate shell look like it was formed out of one piece of sheetmetal as it originally did, working out previous restoration efforts and deformities that happened over the years along the way.

Replicating the car’s paint presented an interesting problem as the original nitro-lacquer “silver bronze” paint is no longer available and its use no longer legal. So the original paint supplier matched the matte finish paint as closely as possible in a modern water-based formula.

The 300 SLs famously ran a 3-liter, overhead cam inline-six from the Mercedes-Benz 300 (W 186) luxury sedan. For this reason, the engine block of this SL has the number “186” embossed on it, while the modified cylinder head, on the other hand, bears the number “194” Because the engine was intended for competition, engineers boosted its output to around 170hp by equipping it with three Solex sports carburetors and a specially ground camshaft among other things. The 300 SL engine also used a dry-sump lubrication system and was installed in the tube chassis at 50-degree left tilt so it would fit under the car’s streamlined hood. During the restoration, the SL’s original engine was completely overhauled and then run for 10 hours on a test stand.

The chassis of the W 194 was completed in the course of several months at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, with every single component cleaned, examined and reconditioned where necessary. The car’s nickel-plated front suspension was also reconditioned – the plating applied originally to make it easier for hairline cracks to be easily detected on the race track. When the rear axle was disassembled, the gears looked to be in virtually new condition, so they were reinstalled. Likewise, the original Alfin brake drums were tested, trimmed and reinstalled, and the original riveted wheel rims were shod with Dunlop D8 tires.

The interior of the 300 SL boasts new blue tartan seat covers, but the headliner and the rest of the interior fabric were cleaned and replaced. The aluminum seat frames were original and reused without needing any significant work. All of the other appointments, the wooden steering wheel, gearshift knob and gauges, are also original pieces.

Over the course of the nine-month effort, hundreds of details were attended to: The car was given new plexiglass windows and a new plexiglass windshield, provided by the supplier who made the original plastic pieces; The handmade three-pointed star emblem on the radiator was polished and reattached, as were the car’s original 300 SL emblems; and the rear license plate is an original, but the front plate was reproduced.

The finished product is an amazing piece of automotive history and a testament to the work Mercedes-Benz Classic is performing on old Benzes these days.

The original SL obviously doesn’t have much in common with the luxurious 2013 SL, but at least one aspect of the new car’s construction will impress purists: The latest SL’s body and substructure are made almost entirely of aluminum, making it 275 pounds lighter than the previous roadster.

clintsays:

January 12, 2012 9:41 am

Dan Knowlersays:

January 12, 2012 10:05 am

Daniel Strohlsays:

January 12, 2012 10:16 am

Thanks, Dan. We just spent a few minutes here in the office looking for photos of the car with its doors open. Strangely, we haven’t yet been able to find any (it’s mandated by law that every gullwing be photographed with its doors raised), but we do see in W. Robert Nitske’s book on the 300 SL the following description of the prototype model:

“The doors were of an unorthodox airplane type, consisting of the framed windows and a portion of the top, and swung upward. This revolutionary door design made possible a lighter and also a stronger body construction.”

clintsays:

January 12, 2012 12:35 pm

Sorry Dan but those are windows, not doors. I knew a man who owned one in the early 50″ths and he bought it new for around 10,000 and it had gull-wing doors. This car must been a special one for racing or a proto-type.

Lracsays:

August 7, 2014 11:17 am

GPTsays:

January 12, 2012 9:58 am

Jimsays:

January 12, 2012 10:35 am

The purpose of the gull wing doors was to allow for the frame tubes. This chassis appears to have frame tubes that would not have cleared even the production gull wing doors, hence the (as GPT notes) gull wing “windows.”

January 12, 2012 12:02 pm

Wm Bergmannsays:

August 7, 2014 1:40 pm

Raffisays:

January 12, 2012 12:10 pm

This car has no traditional gull wing doors. There are no doors, rather there are windows that tilt upward which allows the driver the entry by way of crawling inside. As the door idea progressed with the development of the car, the cut line would slowly begin to drape down the body section until it would reach the lowest possible point slightly below the mid-section of the body, but higher than traditional door sills.

The lack of door openings below the belt line (much like on modern NASCAR vehicles) allows for a complete chassis structure to wrap the body creating a more uniform structure all around the body.

frank schaeffersays:

January 12, 2012 1:29 pm

Dave The Corvair Guysays:

January 12, 2012 3:35 pm

I agree with Frank. When I first saw the picture of the SL, I thought how much it resembled a Porsche. The SL has the appearance of a stretched Porsche (not today’s Panamera). Interesting article. I’ve always liked the 50’s Gullwings, I don’t own a mint or a bank in order to have enough money to buy one, so I’ll have to just look and admire for now. Thanks for the article! please keep ’em coming!

Barrie Russellsays:

January 12, 2012 5:11 pm

Fascinating article, to say the least!

What a car the 300SL was – I owned a 1957 roadster with factory Rudge wheels and European (original) headlights and the 3.42:1 rear-end ratio for 23 years and am sorry I ever sold it. Fantastic car in every respect!! My car is now somewhere back in Germany.

Ron B.says:

January 12, 2012 5:24 pm

My Neighbor,Wolfgang Grodd was commissioned to build a replica . At a 7 figure cost his team built an exact replica with the exception of better welds in the chassis and chromemoly tubing. The only real difference being that mercedes never built his replica (which is now in the USA) . When looked at in the flesh(so to speak) these are a very nice looking car and it apparently drives a lot nicer than the later Gullwing road cars . The light weight etc having something to with it.
There is never anything ugly about a purpose built race car… 🙂

DR.VEGASsays:

January 13, 2012 12:29 am

JACK CAIRNSsays:

January 13, 2012 7:01 pm

HI FOLKS – I WATCHED J.M. FANGIO RACE HIS 300SLR AT DUNDROD IN THE ULSTER T.T. – AGAINST S. MOSS IN HIS D-TYPE – SO GOT TO LOOK AT THE 300SLR – IN THE HANGAR – IT IS SIMILAR BUT OF COURSE HAD THE G.P. TYPE I-8 MOTOR – THE UPPER GULL WING DOORS ARE CLEARLY SEEN IN ONE OF YR EXCELENT SHOTS – THE 300SLR HAD AIRCRAFT TYPE DIVE BRAKE – TRUCK LID REARHINGED – THANX J.C.

N.C. Dicksonsays:

January 16, 2012 4:09 pm

I remember when we lived in Ft.Lauderdale in 1953. A friend of my dad called and told my dad he was bringing a car over he had just bought. I was impressed when he opened the gull wing and thought all cars should be like that. It was a pretty car and I thought that would be the beginning of more gull wing cars. Although I was only 12 years old at the time I got to drive it around the block ( with the owner of course). That car has always been in my memory since. When I saw the new gullwing on a tv ad I was pleased to see the return. Norm